Do you remember the very first Xiaomi Mi Mix phone? Released way back in 2016, the phone certainly set itself apart from the competition with its design. It had a massive screen and arguably the thinnest bezels of the time — though, the chin bezel was rather large, likely because that’s where Xiaomi stuffed the selfie camera.
The Xiaomi Mi Mix series is something of a concept lineup, where the company gets to flex its very best technology, and because of that, it’s not a regular entry in the company’s portfolio each year. However, we’re lucky, and 2024 or 2025 will be one of those years. It’s been a long hiatus.
The Xiaomi Mix 5 Smartphone Is Expected Either This Year Or The Next, Bringing Its Iconic Ceramic Back
It’s been a very long time since Xiaomi gave birth to the Xiaomi Mi Mix series. That was back in 2016 when smartphones were still flexing screen-to-body ratio as a spec. The original Mi Mix shaved down the bezels quite significantly for the time and it was regarded to be something of a concept phone, especially because it did so many things differently, such as putting the selfie camera on the chin of the smartphone. Since then, the Mi Mix series has always been sort of like a glimpse into the near future of smartphones.
That’s enough reminiscing. The Xiaomi Mix 4 came out all the way back in 2021 and it hasn’t seen a successor since. Well, it doesn’t seem like we will be getting it this year, but 2025 seems most likely to bring us a Xiaomi Mix 5. It’s too far out to know too much about the upcoming device, but we do know, thanks to Digital Chat Station, that it is going to come with a ceramic back panel and I find that to be a very good thing.
These days, back panels are either made of glass in the upper tiers or plastic in the lower tiers. Gone are the days of metal (which I really liked) and the premium ceramic option. However, each year that has been lucky enough to have a Mi Mix model has also been lucky enough to have at least one phone with a ceramic back — that one. This year will be the same, as the ceramic back is bound to return for the Mix 5.
The Under-Display Selfie Camera Is Returning Too, And Hopefully With A Lot Of Refinement
We’ve seen devices with under-display selfie cameras since 2020 and we still see them to date (the Galaxy Z Fold series being the most notable example), but they are far from being mainstream and that’s simply because they still aren’t spectacular.
The Xiaomi Mix 4 had a 20MP under-display selfie camera and it wasn’t spectacular. However, it seems like the feat will be repeated with the Xiaomi Mix 5, and hopefully with a lot of refinement to the technology. The lack of a punch-hole cutout makes these phones more attractive and with better tech behind the camera, it’ll make it less of a trade-off.
